Miami Businesses save money by going GREEN

What do real estate offices, restaurants, car washes and farms in Miami have in common with each other?  They are all demonstrating an outstanding commitment to the environment.  Armed with exceptional environmental solutions like T5s, LEDs, bromeliads to capture storm water, implementing closed-loop water recovery systems, composting toilets, convection ovens, sourcing organic produce, micro and jet irrigation, even making curtains out of grandpa’s ties, this set of industry leaders in Miami help their bottom line while protecting the environment.

One business reuses 15,000 gallons of water a year.  Another contributes $ 240,000 to the organic industry annually.  Another business saves more than $10,000 in five years due to their lighting upgrades.

In a special certification ceremony on the 22nd of March, these Miami business leaders will be recognized as certified green businesses by Thimmakka’s Resources, an environmental non-profit based out of California, and brought in by Miami Dade DERM to provide special assistance to Miami businesses.

You are invited to the ceremony, hosted by Thimmakka’s Resources and Metro1 Properties on March 22nd at 9:30 am.  Come be inspired!

That’s because the view outside of his window didn’t live up to Coral Gables’ tony standard. To be accurate, it was rather an eyesore.

“He got tired of looking at a crummy building,” Klindt laughs.

So Fewell, who made his money in real estate and who has called Coral Gables home for 55 years, donated $2 million toward the estimated $3.5 million it took to restore the old 1939 police and fire station on Giralda.

The original building housed the police and fire staff through the 1960s and was made of coral rock, a porous material that had grown grungy over the decades and this led to a problem.

“One of the things that gave us a cost overrun was when they pressure-cleaned it. It did not come clean. I saw men on scaffolding for a long time filling all these holes with a putty knife,” Fewell said.

The effort, proponents say, was worth it. The restored landmark, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, will eventually house artifacts from the city’s past and host art and historic exhibitions once they are installed after the new year.

Officials, jazzed about the space, want to throw its doors open to the public on Sunday morning as the LEED-certified museum delivers a day devoted to free tours, live music, ribbon-cutting and presentations.

“We’re seven months late in opening the building . . . and so many people are eager for its opening we’re having an open house — showing off the building,” Klindt said.

Fewell hopes the building’s restoration and use as a museum honors founder George Merrick’s dream for his city — a dream deferred as the one-two punch from a 1926 hurricane and the Great Depression almost derailed Coral Gables.

“I think every city this size should have a museum,” Fewell said. “It’s one of the things Coral Gables did not have. I just always loved Coral Gables. It’s a beautiful city but an unusual city.”

Bringing the building up to standards, all the while honoring its past, proved a challenge for architect Jorge Hernandez.

“We wanted to restore it in such a way that it isn’t a mummifying of the building but . . . give it new life and allow people to understand the meaning of the building,” Hernandez said.

The building was built of solid slabs of coral, “Egyptian, in a way,” Hernandez explained. “We had to peel away many layers of subsequent changes to get to that ground zero.”

Originally, the building, like others of the time, had no air-conditioning. The jail cells had no glass. Little critters could easily jump through the bars and share a cell with the prisoners.

“It was a sweaty, rough and tough masculine environment and we had to air condition it, stabilize the humidity and prepare it for works of art. It’s difficult to do that without jeopardizing the coral stone which breathes and needs to breathe, Hernandez said about the restoration which includes a 5,000-square-foot plaza and the 3,000-square-foot Robert and Marian Fewell Gallery.

A combination of natural light and some creative methods of concealing lighting and wiring fixtures combine to give the museum a touch of old and new.

“Yes, this is the history of Coral Gables,” Klindt said, “but it can be contemporary, too.”

Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/10/08/1864473/new-museum-in-coral-gables-opens.html#ixzz13rv9BsQY

BY HOWARD COHEN
hcohen@MiamiHerald.com

South Florida’s construction industry is still struggling amid a slowdown, but that shouldn’t hamper environmentally-conscious building practices, a builders’ trade group said during a Wednesday meeting in Miami headlined by Gov. Charlie Crist.

“The timing couldn’t be better to adjust to green building [standards],” said Fernando Martinez, president of the Builders Association of South Florida. “While we were extremely busy a few years ago because of the way the market was, now things are slower — it gives us an opportunity to adjust.”

Crist, who spoke broadly about the relationship between Florida’s environment and its tourism-dependent economy, said green building should be a key component of protecting the state’s environment and its image.

“Eighty-five million people come into Florida each year not because it’s ugly,” he said.

The governor, who is running for U.S. Senate in a three-way race with Republican Marco Rubio and Democrat Kendrick Meek, also touted his environmental record, highlighting the advancement of Florida’s solar energy sector during his tenure.

During a session featuring sustainable builders, Jay Huebner, vice president of Boca Raton-based HSQ Group Engineering, described a few of the multifamily-residential complexes his company has developed using environmental standards. For each project, he outlined the long-term cost savings of going green.

Tallman Pines, a 200-unit affordable housing project in Deerfield Beach, was developed using low-flow water fixtures, a drip irrigation system, solar panels and recycled demolition materials. Those green practices, which helped the project achieve LEED Silver Certification from the U.S. Green Building Council, cost about 5 percent more than traditional building practices. The projected cost savings, including $10 per month in water savings for each unit, are nearly 30 percent over the long term, Huebner said.

Other residential projects incorporate new environmentally-friendly features that have higher upfront costs, but will ultimately save money over time, Huebner said.

But green builders face a number of challenges, the group acknowledged. They include standards and technologies that are constantly changing, the lack of public knowledge about green practices, and a sluggish economy that frowns on higher costs.

Harvey Ruvin, the Miami-Dade County Clerk of Courts, told the group of about 50 that in a fragile real estate market, builders still need to be up to speed on energy-efficient practices in order to be competitive.

“The construction industry will reappear as the real engine of this South Florida economy,” he said. “When it does, it’s important that we build green, that we don’t just go back to the way we did things.”

Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/09/16/1826879/crist-meets-with-builders-association.html#ixzz13roWqC82

By TOLUSE OLORUNNIPA
tolorunnipa@MiamiHerald.com

The 35-story, 582,817 square foot office tower’s LEED Gold certification coincides with receipt of its Certificate of Occupancy, which verifies that the building is in compliance with all local building codes and is safe for permanent occupancy.

“In earning its LEED Gold certification, 1450 Brickell has set a new standard for the sustainable design and construction of new commercial office buildings in Miami,” said Alan Ojeda, CEO of Rilea Group, developer of 1450 Brickell. “As tenants seek opportunities to become more environmentally-conscious in line with their business principles, properties like 1450 Brickell will stand out from the competition. Recognizing this trend toward green buildings and the cost efficiencies created by sustainable design, we set out to build Miami’s most sustainable office tower. We are now seeing this commitment materialize in the form of strong leasing activity among the market’s top-tier corporate tenants.”

1450 Brickell features a range of efficient strategies and technologies that enhance the health and productivity of its tenants while reducing waste and promoting environmental sustainability.

Highlights include:

•Recycled construction waste: Approximately 78% of the project’s construction waste was recycled, with 40% of all materials coming from sources within 500 miles of the construction site.
•Energy efficiency: The tower saves more than 14% more energy than standard buildings built to code.
•Water system efficiency: The tower’s low-flow water fixtures are projected to save over 2.5 million gallons of water per year (more than 40% over standard buildings built to code).
•The tower offers preferred parking spaces allocated for low emission, fuel-efficient vehicles.
•Pedestrian and cyclist-friendly amenities: The tower features 44 bike racks as well as shower and changing facilities.

“1450 Brickell’s development team took a big risk five years ago in setting out to build a LEED Gold office tower at a time when there were no LEED buildings in Miami,” said Rob Hink, a LEED Accredited Professional and Principal of the Spinnaker Group, 1450 Brickell’s environmental consulting firm. “Now, 1450 Brickell stands alone as the only newly constructed LEED Gold certified office tower in Downtown Miami, making it a model for green construction.”

News of 1450 Brickell’s LEED Gold certification follows a string of transactions that bring the total amount of leased space at the tower to more than 226,000 square feet. Tenants include Miami-based law firm Bilzin Sumberg, financial services firm BNY Mellon, executive recruitment firm Korn/Ferry International, Spanish financial institution Bancaja, private investment firm H.I.G. Capital, investment banking firm BroadSpan Capital, law firm Ratzan & Rubio, commercial reinsurance company International Broking Solutions, global commodities trader Yntegra, Kempler Energy, AgriCommodity Trade, and Preston III.

Beyond 1450 Brickell’s sustainable features, tenants are drawn to the building’s glass curtain wall system, which played an integral role in attaining LEED Gold status and sets new market standards in commercial building strength. Specifically, the curtain wall system improves impact resistance, solar performance, energy efficiency, sound attenuation and UV blocking. The glass façade, fabricated entirely of large-missile impact glass, was tested to withstand wind loads over 300 mph, making 1450 Brickell one of the nation’s most wind-resistant office buildings. The tower also has two generators, one for use in emergencies and another that can power tenants’ basic electrical needs during outages.

Designed by Miami-based architecture firm NBWW & Associates and constructed by Coastal Construction, 1450 Brickell offers sweeping views of Biscayne Bay, Brickell Avenue, and the city of Miami. Floor-to-ceiling windows and wide-open floor plates range in size from 24,000 square-feet to 25,600 square-feet and maximize the flow of natural light throughout tenant areas.

Michael Gerrity, Publisher & CEO – REAL ESTATE CHANNEL